Friday Night Smackdown on FOX drew 2,160,000 viewers in the overnight ratings, up 369,000 viewers from the overnight of the December 24 broadcast. The Christmas Eve show ended up with 1,972,000 viewers when final numbers came in. Last week there was no Smackdown on FOX.
The first hour started strong with 2,247,000 viewers and then dropped to 2,073,000 viewers in the second hour. The first hour number was the most-watched since the July 16, 2021 show. The show delivered a 0.55 rating in the 18-49 demo, placing #3 for the night. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV.com)
As always, Pat McAfee was on point with his Smackdown commentary last night. When the graphic came up showing who’s in the Rumble, McAfee exclaimed, “That’s Mickie James, the Impact Knockouts champion, she’s going to have an axe to grind with the garbage that happened in the past!”
Days after getting fired in April of last year, James received a special delivery at home: her belongings from WWE…in a black trash bag. In a tweet directed at Vince McMahon, she told him she received her “care package” along with the photo and a sarcastic thank you.
Stephanie McMahon and Triple both publicly addressed the controversy and apologized to James on behalf of the company, noting that the person involved is no longer employed. In fact, WWE fired two individuals: long-time employee and Senior VP of Talent Relations Mark Carrano as well as Nicole Zeoli, the Director of Talent Relations.
James, following the news of the firings, said she was sorry that a thoughtless and tone deaf act would cost someone their job but she was not sorry that she had the courage to ensure it would not happen ever again to someone who gets released.
And while AEW smashed open the forbidden door, it looks like WWE opened that forbidden door just slightly to offer an olive branch to James to appear at this year’s Royal Rumble, an offer which was accepted.
“Y’all talk about doors like you’re doing big things…Bitch I raise the BAR and kick out the ceiling. Because that’s what legends do,” James wrote on Instagram. She added that after tonight’s Hard To Kill, she’s taking herself, her boots, and her Impact Knockouts title all the way to the Royal Rumble with the final destination being WrestleMania.
Impact EVP Scott D’Amore said that Mickie has the company’s blessing to carry the Knockouts title into the Royal Rumble as long as she beats Deonna Purrazzo tonight. “And, as you saw, @WWE respects her as a World Champion,” D’Amore tweeted.
“WWE wanted it, Mickie wanted it and Impact Wrestling’s philosophy is always to work with other major promotions to create buzz for the fans. Everything is signed and agreed with WWE and Impact Wrestling – the only question is whether or not Mickie will enter one of WWE’s most historic annual matches as the reigning Knockouts World Champion,” D’Amore added.
Meanwhile, Nick Aldis, Mickie’s husband and former NWA champion, said that he wants to say how proud he is of his wife for once again just hitting the ground running and proving that you can’t stop true top level talent if they’re all business like her. He also gave props to NWA, Impact Wrestling, and WWE for making this happen.
Live tonight from The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas, Impact Wrestling presents its first pay-per-view of the year, Hard To Kill. The full card is as follows:
Moose vs Matt Cardona vs W. Morrissey in a three-way match for the Impact World title; Mickie James vs Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas death match for the Impact Knockouts title; Trey Miguel vs Steve Maclin for the Impact X Division title; Alisha Edwards vs Chelsea Green vs Jordynne Grace vs Lady Frost vs Rosemary vs Tasha Steelz in an Ultimate X match with the winner becoming the number one contender for the Impact Knockouts title; Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath and Rhino vs. Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering in a 10-man hardcore war; Jonathan Gresham vs Chris Sabin for the ROH World title; Josh Alexander vs Jonah; and Ace Austin vs Chris Bey vs Jake Something vs Laredo Kid in a four-way match in the pre-show.
The Hard To Kill pay-per-view is also available for purchase on FITE.TV.
While tonight’s Battle of the Belts television show will only run for an hour, fans inside the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina will still experience a full AEW show.
As predicted, Cody Rhodes is out of the TNT title match and instead there will be an interim TNT title match between Sammy Guevara and Dustin Rhodes. The winner will win the interim TNT title and will then face Cody at a later date.
Another match, Ricky Starks vs Matt Sydal for the FTW title was also added to the TV card which now brings it to a three-match show when adding the Baker vs Riho Women’s title match.
AEW President Tony Khan wrote on Twitter that he plans to book a “stacked house show card” for the fans in Charlotte.
Days after getting released from WWE after two decades, William Regal took it to Twitter to thank the company for what he described a wonderful 21-year run.
Regal, part of Triple H’s inner circle and the heart and soul of NXT, was unceremoniously dismissed along with a dozen other backstage personnel at the Performance Center, effectively gutting out Triple H’s team from the developmental brand.
“You gave a lad who was happy and in wonderland wrestling on a carnival have a charmed life for 21 years. No complaints and please no one waste time replying as I won’t have a bad work said against the company,” Regal noted.
“I will add that @WWE saved my life in 1999 when they didn’t need to, kept my family fed and took me all around the world. You have my gratitude forever. You allowed me to live a charmed life.”
His release led to a ton of tributes from those who he helped during his run in NXT and the Performance Center, including Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks.
Things got interesting at the conclusion of Smackdown as when Roman Reigns was alone in his locker room, someone knocked on his door with a very specific pattern.
Reigns instructed whoever was at the door to come in and after a small smirk on his face, Reigns stood up to come face-to-face with…Seth Rollins!
The former Shield members stared at each other for a few seconds until Rollins started laughing, leaving Reigns with a WTF look on his face.
Rollins, who is now part of the Raw roster, will be challenging Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble for the Universal title. The two already wrestled each other multiple times in the past for the title.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer wrote this week that Rollins was the original pick to win the fatal four-way match at Day 1 and become the new WWE champion until plans changed when Brock Lesnar was inserted into the mix.
18 WWE Superstars, seven of whom who are not part of the WWE roster, were announced for the women’s Royal Rumble last night on Smackdown. The list did include one very surprise addition, the current Impact Knockouts champion Mickie James.
James, who was fired from WWE last year and then revealed on social media that WWE sent her belongings in a black bag resulting in a couple of people getting fired, was not very pro-WWE in her statements and the fact that she currently works for Impact makes it more surprising. Smackdown commentator Pat McAfee acknowledged during the show that James is the Knockouts champion over at Impact Wrestling.
Joining James will be Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool, Summer Rae, and a trio of WWE Hall of Famers – Lita, Nikki and Brie Bella!
Current roster members announced for the Rumble include Nikki A.S.H., Rhea Ripley, Shayna Baszler, Aliyah, Tamina, 24/7 champion Dana Brooke, Women’s Tag Team champions Carmella and Zelina Vega, Naomi, and Smackdown Women’s champion Charlotte Flair.
The Impact Knockouts Tag Team titles will not be on the line tomorrow at the Hard To Kill pay-per-view as expected as Cassie Lee and Jessica McKay of The IInspiration are in self-isolation after spending time with someone who just tested positive for COVID-19.
The duo, who won the titles at the Bound For Glory show last year, were set to defend their belts against Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood.
“Impact’s COVID protocols are in place to keep our talent roster, staff and fans safe,” Impact EVP Scott D’Amore wrote. “I am sure the fans will share The IInspiration’s and my disappointment that they won’t be in action at tomorrow’s stacked Hard To Kill event, but we look forward to their return soon.”
Ryan Katz, who was part of NXT’s creative team and who was released yesterday along with 12 others, wrote in a message on Facebook that his run in WWE was “extraordinary” and was the first employee of the WWE Performance Center, brought in to be a protege and apprentice to the late, great Dusty Rhodes.
“The talent I worked with, the cultures I learned from, the international travel, friends, creative work, passion, dedication, and sacrifice have all allowed me to live my life with a smile on my face and love in my heart,” Katz said in a long statement.
Katz said that when he received the dreaded phone call, he wasn’t sad or angry, but actually laughed a little, admitting he knows he will be fine either way.
“I have a wife that loves me, a puppy that adores me, and judging by messages, calls and things I’ve been reading, my effect on people has been positive and through it all my influence was kind and full of respect,” he continued.
Katz thanked Canyon Ceman, Bill DeMott, Matt Bloom, William Regal and Dusty for always believing in him, supporting him, respect him, and guiding him.
“I was fortunate to be one of the few that gets to ‘live the dream’ and lived every second of it with heart, passion, love and commitment. To all the coaches, staff and talent I have ever worked with I thank you for allowing me to be part of your lives and dreams,” Katz wrote.
Katz had one final tip to those who were fortunate enough not to get cut but are bummed out, sad, and angry.
“Leave it at the door. You’re there for a purpose and go make it happen. I left you all a final statement of motivation in the Dogg House. Read it, live it and go be UNDENIABLE.”
Imperium’s leader and former NXT UK champion Walter will be part of the NXT roster moving forward, leaving the UK brand behind.
The Austrian, who originally did not want to be based in the United States, had a change of heart after some changes in his personal life and is now based in the United States. His final match in NXT UK will be against Nathan Frazer next week.
Walter hasn’t wrestled for NXT UK in a while as his NXT UK title match against Ilja Dragunov was held in Orlando as part of NXT Takeover 36 this past August. He also has not appeared on NXT UK television since the build-up to that match.
Walter returned at New Year’s Evil, joining Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner in losing to Riddle and MSK in a six-man tag team match.
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AEW’s Battle of the Belts TNT show tomorrow will have a change in the card which is currently set only for two matches.
The company announced that due to a “medical issue,” one of the matches will be changed and the announcement of that match will come on Rampage tonight. It was not said which match was being removed from the show and the advertised matches are Britt Baker vs Riho for the AEW Women’s title and Cody Rhodes vs Sammy Guevara for the TNT title.
The belief is that one of the four wrestlers involved has tested positive for coronavirus and while it could end up differently, Cody Rhodes was missing from the Dynamite show in New Jersey this week and also posted on social media telling his followers to get vaccinated.
Battle of the Belts is a one-hour show that airs live on TNT tomorrow at 8PM ET.
Dynamite’s first show on TBS, headlined by Hangman vs Danielson II, drew a total of 1,010,000 viewers, up 35,000 viewers from the previous week. The show drew a healthy 0.43 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 0.06 from the December 29 broadcast and placed #2 in the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Samoa Joe has been released for the second time in nine months, adding another one of Triple H’s NXT team who gets the pink slip.
The former NXT champion was sacked in April 2021 but was then rehired that same month by Triple H and moved back to NXT as an on-screen character as well as helping out backstage.
“Extremely fortunate and grateful to all the young & amazing talent I had the pleasure of working with in the past months,” Joe tweeted. “Only saddened at the loss of an ‘excuse’ to see their continued growth & achievement. I am very excited for their future…and mine.”
After he was re-introduced on NXT TV as William Regal’s enforcer, Joe returned to the ring following a lengthy layoff and won the NXT title for the third time from Karrion Kross.
That match was his first since his return, and last one, as WWE said that he got injured again and had to surrender the title without ever defending it.
Fenix was not the only casualty from last night’s AEW action as the recently-signed Jake Atlas also suffered a knee injury during his match against Adam Cole which was taped for Rampage and airing tomorrow.
Atlas was unable to finish the match with the original finish according to eye witness reports and was left holding his knee after he flew into a Cole superkick and landing awkwardly. The finish was changed as Atlas was unable to stand up properly.
Their match was set up during Dynamite and it was Atlas’ second match with the promotion following his debut on Dark.
Atlas, real name Kenny Marquez, has not addressed his injury publicly yet.
Roman Reigns has been medically cleared, as in he tested negative for COVID-19, and will be able to return to WWE television tomorrow night on Smackdown.
Today was his fifth day of quarantine, the minimum requirement by the CDC for those who tested positive for coronavirus, paving the way for WWE to promote his return.
Reigns will have one particular person – or actually two – waiting for him: newly-crowned WWE champion Brock Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman. Since Lesnar is considered a free agent, he can roam between the two brands and Lesnar already said that he would be seeing Reigns tomorrow when he appeared on Raw on Monday.
The two were supposed to wrestle for the Universal title on Saturday at Day 1 but Reigns tested positive for coronavirus and was taken off the card. Instead, Lesnar was added to the WWE title match, which was changed to a fatal five-way match, and won the title after pinning Big E. He now faces Bobby Lashley at the Royal Rumble.
The NXT New Year’s Evil special on USA Network increased viewership over last week but not enough to make a real difference, with the show pulling in 685,000 viewers, up just 23,000 viewers from the prior week. NXT did the same 0.16 rating in the 18-49 demo as last week, placing #24 on the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Gabe Sapolsky, who co-founded Ring of Honor, EVOLVE, Dragon Gate USA, and worked for other well-known indie promotions as a booker before being scooped up by Triple H to work as a consultant on NXT, has also been let go from WWE.
“Looks like the end of the road. Thank you everyone. Love you all,” Sapolsky wrote on Twitter today.
When WWE began its partnership with EVOLVE, Triple H and Sapolsky started working together and eventually he got recruited to be part of HHH’s NXT team. Many from EVOLVE migrated to NXT and WWE then bought out the indie promotion in mid-2020, handing over the rights to the name and most importantly their video library.
Sapolsky is known for having one of the best minds in the business and was often lauded as a great booker.
The 49-year-old had been working as a consultant for WWE since January 2018.
Jade Cargill became the inaugural TBS champion last night on Dynamite, beating Ruby Soho in the tournament final.
Cargill received a first round bye and then went on to beat Red Velvet and Thunder Rosa to reach the final while Soho went through all the rounds, beating Penelope Ford, Kris Statlander, and Nyla Rose to get to the final match.
Unfortunately, the tournament final match wasn’t highly rated but Cargill finished off Soho with the Avalanche Jaded finisher to pick up the victory. She then celebrated her title win with her daughter at the top of the stage.
The 29-year-old Cargill had no prior wrestling experience before joining AEW in 2020 and was immediately put in the spotlight being part of an angle with Shaquille O’Neal, Cody and Brandy Rhodes.
Last week, Cargill jumped to Tony Khan’s defense after Big Swole said that AEW had a diversity problem.
The post-Day 1 Monday Night Raw had a small bump in the ratings, getting an average of 1,716,000 viewers, up 124,000 viewers from the previous week.
The show started with 1,807,000 viewers, then dropped to 1,716,000 viewers in the second hour, before ending with 1,627,000 viewers in the third hour. This was the most-watched Raw since October 4, 2021.
Raw had an average of 0.45 rating in the 18-49 demo and placed #6, #7, and #8 in the top 50 cable chart with 0.49, 0.45, and 0.42 ratings respectively. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
